ADAMTS12 promotes migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition and predicts poor prognosis for pancreatic cancer

Background: ADAMTS(a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin-like motifs) family, a group of extracellular multifunctional enzymes, has been proven to play a pivotal role in the tumor. In pancreatic cancer, the role and mechanism of this family remain unclear. The present study aimed to figure out the hub gene of ADAMTSs and explore the exact roles in the prognosis and biological functions in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC). Methods: We used several databases to analyze the ADAMTS family and then screen out the hub genes. The expression of ADAMTS12 in 106 pairs of PDAC tumors and adjacent normal tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry, and its correlations with clinical parameters were further analyzed. The impacts of ADAMTS12 on the migration of PDAC cells were predicted by gene set enrichment analysis and confirmed by transwell assays. The potential impacts of ADAMTS12 on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) were identified by database analysis and experimental proof of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(q PCR) and Western blotting. Results: Our study found that ADAMTS12 was a crucial gene in PDAC, and it was highly expressed in tumor tissues when compared to that in the adjacent tissues. ADATMS12 had predictive value of a poor prognosis for PDAC. The elevation of ADAMTS12 was parallel to the progression of PDAC. Inhibition of ADAMTS12 suppressed the migration of PDAC cells and interfered with the process of EMT. Conclusions: ADAMTS12 is a crucial member of ADAMTSs in PDAC and a predictor of poor prognosis. Additionally, based on its impacts on migration and metastasis in PDAC and the relationship with EMT, ADAMTS12 plays a role of an oncogene in PDAC and may be a promising target for treatment.

Radiation dose effects on the morphological development of M_(1) generation pea(Pisum sativum)

We irradiated pea seeds with neutrons from a ^(252)Cf source and studied the radiation dose effects on various morphological development parameters during the growth of M_(1) generation peas.We found that in the dose range of 0.51-9.27 Gy,with the increase in neutron-absorbed dose,the morphological development parameters of M_(1) generation peas at the initial seedling stage showed an obvious trend with three fluctuations.With the development of pea,this trend gradually weakened.Further analysis and verification showed that the main trend in the M_(1) generation of pea seeds was an inhibitory effect induced by neutron irradiation and there was a good linear correlation between the inhibitory effect and neutron absorption dose We successfully demonstrated the background removal of mutant plants and defined morphological developmen parameters for peas that match the overall development of plants.Our results will positively impact neutron mutation breeding and automatic agriculture.

Study on the multiple characteristics of M3 generation of pea mutants obtained by neutron irradiation

Irradiation breeding is an important technique in the effort to solve food shortages and improve the quality of agricultural products.In this study,a field test was implemented on the M3 generation of two mutant pea plants gained from previous neutron radiation of pea seeds.The relationship between agronomic characteristics and yields of the mutants was investigated.Moreover,differences in physiological and biochemical properties and seed nutrients were analyzed.The results demonstrated that the plant height,effective pods per plant,and yield per plant of mutant Leaf-M1 were 45.0%,43.2%,and 50.9%higher than those of the control group,respectively.Further analysis attributed the increase in yield per plant to the increased branching number.The yield per plant of mutant Leaf-M2 was 7.8%higher than that of the control group,which could be related to the increased chlorophyll content in the leaves.There was a significant difference between the two mutants in the increase in yield per plant owing to morphological variation between the two mutants.There were significant differences in SOD activity and MDA content between the two mutants and the control,indicating that the physiological regulation of the two mutants also changed.In addition,the iron element content of seeds of the two mutants was about 10.9%lower than in the seeds of the control group,a significant difference.These findings indicate that the mutants Leaf-M1 and Leaf-M2 have breeding value and material value for molecular biological studies.

Effect of K2TiO(C2O4)2 Addition in Electrolyte on the Microstructure and Tribological Behavior of Micro-Arc Oxidation Coatings on Aluminum Alloy

Micro-arc oxidation （MAO） coatings with different concentrations of K2TiO（C2O4）2 in the sodium silicate base electrolyte were prepared on 6061 aluminum alloy with the aim of promoting a better understanding of the formation mechanisms and tribological behaviors of the coatings. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） assisted with energy-dis- persive X-ray spectroscopy （EDS）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and friction test were employed to charac- terize the MAO processes and microstructure of the resultant coatings. Results showed that the composition and microstructure of the coatings were significantly affected by the addition of KETiO（CaO4）2. A sealing microstructure of MAO coating was obtained with the addition of K2TiO（C2O4）2. Ti element from K2TiO（C2O4）2 was only absorbed into the defects of micropores under surface energy in the early stage, while in the later stage, Ti element was predominant in the micropores and distributed on the coatings under plasma discharge to form TiO2. It was demonstrated that Ti and Si elements from the electrolyte could interact with each other during the MAO process and the interaction mechanism was systematically analyzed. Wear resistance of the MAO coatings with K2TiO（C2O4）2 addition was significantly improved compared with that of the MAO coatings without K2TiO（C2O4）2 addition.

Monte Carlo simulation of fast neutron-induced fission of 237Np

The potential-driving model is used to describe the driving potential distribution and to calculate the preneutron emission mass distributions for different incident energies in the 237 Np(n, f)reaction. The potential-driving model is implemented in Geant4 and used to calculate the fission-fragment yield distributions, kinetic energy distributions, fission neutron spectrum and the total nubar for the 237 Np(n, f)reaction. Compared with the built-in G4 ParaFissionModel, the calculated results from the potential-driving model are in better agreement with the experimental data and evaluated data. Given the good agreement with the experimental data, the potential-driving model in Geant4 can describe well the neutron-induced fission of actinide nuclei, which is very important for the study of neutron transmutation physics and the design of a transmutation system.

Calculation of the wide-angle neutron spectra from the ~9Be(d,xn) reaction in a thick beryllium target

The multi-layer computing model is developed to calculate wide-angle neutron spectra, in the range from0° to 180° with a 5° step, produced by bombarding a thick beryllium target with deuterons. The double-differential cross-sections(DDCSs) for the ~9 Be(d, xn) reaction are calculated using the TALYS-1.8 code. They are in agreement with the experimental data, and are much better than the PHITS-JQMD/GEM results at 15°, 30°, 45° and 60° neutron emission angles for deuteron energy of 10.0 MeV. In the TALYS-1.8 code, neutron contributions from direct reactions(break-up, stripping and knock-out reactions) are controlled by adjustable parameters, which describe the basic characteristics of typical direct reactions and control the relative intensity and the position of the ridgy hillock at the tail of DDCSs. It is found that the typical calculated wide-angle neutron spectra for different neutron emission angles and neutron angular distributions agree quite well with the experimental data for 13.5 MeV deuterons. The multi-layer computing model can reproduce the experimental data reasonably well by optimizing the adjustable parameters in the TALYS-1.8 code. Given the good agreement with the experimental data, the multi-layer computing model could provide better predictions of wide-angle neutron energy spectra, neutron angular distributions and neutron yields for the ~9 Be(d, xn) reaction neutron source.